Region A Rewind: Broncos Young But Ready, Make Statement

[TheSel2]

The Broncos line open big holes for Javontae Baker to cruise through most of the night.

COLONIAL BEACH- When Franklin and Colonial Beach get together you never know what to expect. Both predominantly rushing teams that have made their success in pounding their opponents into submission while the defense are very stingy in allowing every single yard. Only one team on this night would resemble the description of the team’s past resume.


Franklin loss last season 54-24 to the Drifters and came out setting the tone from the start with an aggressive smash mouth style and less flash and no razzle-dazzle. Quarterback Tre’Shawn Freeman and Quashaun Jefferson ran hard on an overloaded left side that the Drifters could not stop. The drive ended with Freeman sneaking in behind the center to make it 6-0 Broncos.


As the Drifters offense continued to stall, Franklin’s physical play appeared to have staggered Colonial Beaches defense as Freeman would turn a qb sneak into a footrace in the middle of the field from 52-yards out making it 12-0. Franklin would repeat the process with Javontae Baker help getting the Broncos in scoring position again. Freeman would sneak in for his 3rd touchdown and Jack Sykes would bulldoze his way in on the two-point conversion.

Tre' Shawn Freeman races 52 yards for the touchdown for Franklin.

Coach Jeremy Jack’s group was going to lay down in this one. As the offense continued to sputter, Franklin would recover a fumble at the Drifter 32. Franklin would try the same approach but once they got within the 5-yard line they were met with the most resistance that they’d encountered all game. On a 4th and goal, the Drifters defense stepped up and made the goal line stand giving them some momentum going into halftime.


In the second half, the Drifters on their second possession since halftime got a big run by Cameron Headley that got their offense in the best position to score on the night. Lamar Lucas would plant his right foot race to the edge, and turn up with a dive toward the goal line scoring to make it 20-6 ending the 3rd quarter.


Baker would answer Lucas’s run with one of his own busting out for a 40-yard run for a score. Freeman would get the conversion as the Broncos secured the victory the rest of the way by running the clock.

Franklin's defense made a big statement of the season by holding the Drifters Lucas to less than 20 yards.

The Drifters were led in rushing by Headley who got 77 yards off 13 carries. Baker had 115 yards on 16 carries and Freeman chipped in 93 yards on 13 touches. Neither team could complete a pass on the night.


Franklin (2-0) will face Charles City (0-3) next week who lost 44-6 to Sussex Central. Colonial Beach (0-3) will host Sussex Central prior to their bye week that will give Coach Jack and staff more time to regroup.


FRANKLIN 12 6 0 8 - 28

COLONIAL BEACH 0 0 6 0 - 6


F- Freeman 1 yard run (pass failed)

F- Freeman 52 yard run (run failed)

F- Freeman 1 yard run (Sykes run)

CB- Lucas 7 yard run (run failed)

F- Baker 40 yard run (Freeman run)




SUSSEX CENTRAL 44 CHARLES CITY 6

Sussex Central overcame several turnovers with a 30-point 3rd quarter to thump the Panthers on the road. The Tigers outrushed the Panthers 274 yards to (-)19. The Tigers haven’t lost a road game since 2013.


ESSEX 57 KING WILLIAM 31

Essex found themselves in a battle earlier but was able to pull away as the top ranked 1A team in the state moved to a 3-0 record. Despite dropping their 2nd in a row the Cavaliers show a lot of promise offensively.


ALTAVISTA 41 GREENSVILLE 12

The Eagles have the talent to make some big thing happen this season but tonight wasn’t the night. Greensville led early 12-0 until Jacob Adams and Mateo Maulback took over scoring 41 straight.


OTHER REGION A SCORES


Lancaster 33 Mathews 6

Rappahannock 42 Middlesex 21

 

[uvacavs1]

Thanks Sel2 for your great reports and keeping us informed. As essextrojan1 said, we haven't heard much about those old Tri Rivers teams.

Great win for Franklin over CB. I'm sure that they are fired up and should be at 2-0. Not sure yet if Franklin is really strong or if CB is just down this season (not sure why). Maybe a little of both. I think that it does show some possible evidence that as some have said, NND #2 this year may go to Rapp or Northumberland instead of W&L or CB as of the late. Of course, time well tell. Again, next week Rapp v W&L is huge.

The old Tidewater has really fallen on hard times the last few seasons. Now KW will do well this season and probably will make some noise in the 2A playoffs as they did last year. I know that they are disappointed to lose big to Essex again but they did great in the 1st half and dropped 31 on the Essex D. Not bad at all!

I mean no disrespect at all but what has happened to most of the teams in the old Tidewater. The Neck went 4-0 against the Tidewater outscoring them 173-66. Plus last week, the two teams most predict to finish last in these districts, the Neck won 64-0. I pull for the Neck but also for the Tidewater and old Region A so I would like to see them perform much better. It does not really help anyone for them to be so poor. Please don't mention any individual names but any thoughts on this? How can they improve? Do they get support from the higher ups? Are sports (football) just more important to the Neck? Lack of participation? I hope that they can improve.

 

[bpsdrefromva]

Thanks Sel2 for your great reports and keeping us informed. As essextrojan1 said, we haven't heard much about those old Tri Rivers teams.

Great win for Franklin over CB. I'm sure that they are fired up and should be at 2-0. Not sure yet if Franklin is really strong or if CB is just down this season (not sure why). Maybe a little of both. I think that it does show some possible evidence that as some have said, NND #2 this year may go to Rapp or Northumberland instead of W&L or CB as of the late. Of course, time well tell. Again, next week Rapp v W&L is huge.

The old Tidewater has really fallen on hard times the last few seasons. Now KW will do well this season and probably will make some noise in the 2A playoffs as they did last year. I know that they are disappointed to lose big to Essex again but they did great in the 1st half and dropped 31 on the Essex D. Not bad at all!

I mean no disrespect at all but what has happened to most of the teams in the old Tidewater. The Neck went 4-0 against the Tidewater outscoring them 173-66. Plus last week, the two teams most predict to finish last in these districts, the Neck won 64-0. I pull for the Neck but also for the Tidewater and old Region A so I would like to see them perform much better. It does not really help anyone for them to be so poor. Please don't mention any individual names but any thoughts on this? How can they improve? Do they get support from the higher ups? Are sports (football) just more important to the Neck? Lack of participation? I hope that they can improve.

Hey UVA, I think I can take this one..

The current Tidewater district is Charles City, King & Queen, King William, Mathews, Middlesex, and West Point. Talking with a few very reliable sources, each school has a few hiccups that I will touch on briefly. My statements are not to offend anybody affiliated with the school, but it gives you insight of what they are going through.

Charles City- This is the team I follow the most. They have the talent, but not the heart. You would think after playing all those years in the Tri-Rivers would prepare them for the Tidewater District. Unfortunately, they have had issues with the offensive line and defensive line. They are the fifth smallest school in the state.

King & Queen- They are the fourth smallest school in the state. Biggest factor with King & Queen is the ongoing changing involved with the coaching staff. I believe they have had four different head coaches in five years. Programs have to find some sort of stability. I'm not knocking the style of the coaches, but it can be a deterring factor to run away athletes when they are unsure of who will take the helm. Hopefully it will trend upwards.

King William- Biggest problem with King William is not the team itself, but the competition. They have always scheduled non-district play very well, but when they come to the Tidewater District play, it has hurt them to play down and then get the energy to play up when the playoffs roll around.

Mathews- Has the size but not as athletic as they were a few years ago. Their power game from the option offense allowed them to run downhill with three different running backs for nearly 1,000 yards. As with most teams, they should be improving.

Middlesex- Currently in the rebuilding stage as well. I think the program took a dive a few years ago when Rakeem Lockley was the main focus of the team. While as talented as he was, a few players I spoke with during track season during that year just said they felt disrespected by other teams that is all the opposing coaches scouted for.

West Point- Entering their first year of rebuilding. The last five years have seen the loss of a NFL prospect (Aaron Roane), an all-state running back that transferred to Lafayette, a dynamic offensive line, a quarterback that chucked nearly 2,500 yards (Mikey Anerton), and a corp group of seniors last year. It doesn't help that the guy who was projected to be the top returner for the team decided to leave along with another core leader on the offensive line. West Point will be rebuilding for a couple years.

Simply put, all teams go through cycles. It just depends on what type of cycles. King William is the only team who has the "reload" cycle and doesn't have to rebuild. Part of that is due to enrollment though.

The Tidewater may be down, but it can only go up.

Hope that helps.

 

[NND Sports Fan]

From what I understand Essex had 2 or maybe 3 starters out defensively and 1 offensively last night

 

[dringtuoti]

Both tidewater and northern neck are down. Right now I would take any northern neck team vs any tidewater team except King William by at least two scores.

 

[Essex Trojan1]

I saw at least 5 with just jerseys on. I know one has a knee injury. At least 3 missed practice and were benched. Not sure about the 5th guy